COMPOSITION atMSU DENVERThe music composition program at MSU Denver provides students with a foundation of techniques developed by composers from the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Twentieth-Century periods, through to current composers of concert music. The composition faculty encourage students to emulate, build, and expand upon these techniques to discover their distinct compositional style. Students compose for a wide variety of MSU Denver ensembles and hear their pieces performed by our Ensemble in Residence, the Playground Ensemble.

msudenver.edu/music 303-615-1010 music@msudenver.edu

Composition Events Composition FacultySpring 2020Visiting Artist Series Derrick Hodge, jazz bass/composer Friday, February 14King Center Recital Hall7:30 pm, Tickets $16, $12, $10

Faculty Artist Series David Farrell, composer Monday, February 24King Center Recital Hall7:30 pm, Tickets $13, $10, $8

MSU Denver Collaborative Piano & Composition Recital Thursday, April 9King Center Recital Hall5:00 pm, Tickets $7

Visiting Artist Series Colorado Composers Concert XIVSaturday, April 18King Center Concert Hall7:30 pm, Tickets $16, $12, $10

Visiting Artist Series Walter Thompson, soundpaintingSaturday, April 25King Center Concert Hall7:30 pm, Tickets $16, $12, $10Free and Open to the Public

Events are subject to change. King Center Box Office: 303-556-2296

STEPHEN BAILEYAffiliate Faculty Music Theorysbaile27@msudenver.edu

cherise leiterDirector of Composition & Music TheoryProfessorleiter@msudenver.edu303-615-0751

David FarrellLecturer of Composition & Music Theorydfarrel7@msudenver.edu303-615-1625

CHRIS KEELANLecturer of Music Theoryckeelan@msudenver.edu303-615-1635

View our full list of events atmsudenver.edu/music/events

COMPOSITION atMSU DENVER

msudenver.edu/music 303-615-1010 music@msudenver.edu

Composition Faculty Bios

STEPHEN BAILEY, Music TheoryA fierce experimentalist, Stephen Bailey is a Colorado-based composer, instru-ment maker, arranger, producer and sound engineer. Stephen’s compositional output embodies a language which is deeply expressive and highly textural. This definitively contemporary language borrows techniques from composers of minimalism, sound mass, new simplicity, and post-serialism, integrating them and exploring their capabilities as tools for the expression of the realities of the human condition on the canvases of electronic, chamber, choral, and or-chestral music. His devotion to modern music has garnered him commissions from a number of Denver-area musicians and chamber groups.

Cherise Leiter, Director of Composition & Music TheoryBorn in Florida, Cherise Leiter received a Bachelor of Music in Music Theory and a Master of Music in Composition from the University of Florida where she studied with Dr. Budd Udell. An active composer whose output includes works for choir, piano, voice, carillon, orchestra and assorted chamber ensembles, her compositions have been performed throughout the United States, France, Scotland, and Japan. She was a finalist in the 1997 Young American Choral Composers Competition sponsored by G. Schirmer, in the Ithaca College 25th annual Choral Composition Competition, and in the ‘Outside the Bach’s’ Choral Composition Competition.

David Farrell, Lecturer in Composition & Music TheoryDr. David Farrell’s music has been performed by ensembles across the United States, including the North/South Chamber Orchestra, the Playground Ensem-ble, the Indiana University Symphonic Band, the Univeristy of Iowa Center for New Music Ensemble, and the University of Illinois Chamber Orchestra as win-ner of the University of Illinois Orchestra Composition Competition. His works have been featured at the Sam Houston State University Contemporary Music Festival, the University of South Dakota’s “60/60” concerts, and the Midwest Composers Symposium. Farrell earned a DM in Composition fromthe Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.

CHRIS KEELAN, Lecturer in Music TheoryChris Keelan received his B.A. in music from MSU Denver and his M.M. with a focus in theory from UNL. His research focused on the possible benefits of using visual color in aural skills courses. Keelan’s entry into music was rather unusual; before studying music at MSU Denver, he had no formal instrument training and little musical knowledge. This helped shape the way he approach-es and teaches music in the classroom today, and he believes that with dedica-tion and passion, anyone can study, appreciate, and succeed in music. Keelan served in the United States Marine Corps from 2003-2010 including several overseas tours and was honorably discharged in 2010.